About the Deep Tones

We believe that classical music belongs to everyone! Our purpose is to create a cultural consciousness in classical music and deliver a more inclusive and diverse presence on the classical concert stage.

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We acknowledge that people of color are underrepresented in classical music and are working towards creating a more optimal place for minorities in classical music through representation in performance and music education to ensure that classical music continues to be a visible and viable art form for everyone to enjoy.

BIOS

ARTURO RODRIGUEZ

Arturo Rodriguez is a flutist, composer, recording artist, and flute teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Arturo has performed in a variety of concert halls such as The Fillmore, Paramount Theater, and the Sydney Opera House. Arturo has studied with Gail Edwards, Maria Tamburrino, and Mathew Krejci. He has participated in masterclasses lead by Jennifer Olson, Viviana Guzman, Monica Anthony, Ray Furuta, and Valerie Coleman. Arturo performs around the bay area with various orchestras and chamber ensembles across the bay area.

He has also performed with a variety of musical ensembles across the bay area. His talents were included in various Undercover Presents events and albums including Tribute to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club and Green Day's Dookie. He has also performed with artists such as The Dear Hunter, Diana Gameros, and Palette Swap Ninja.

His current projects include a 9-movement symphonic requiem called Requiem Sinfonica; a requiem without words, which is dedicated to the victims and their families of the Ghost Ship Fire, a professional flute duo called the Etesian Duo with fellow co-founder, Alan Berquist, and premiering a Gay Men's Wind Quintet in 2019. He currently serves as flute faculty with the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra in Berkeley and a Flute Ambassador with the Awesöme Orchestra Collective lead by David Möschler.

Flute, Piccolo, & Composer

Oboist/English Hornist, Marcus Phillips is a freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay Area with an extensive background in orchestral performance, chamber music, and solo performance. Combining his classical training and creative spirit, Marcus is dedicated to bringing the oboe into a new light.

Marcus has had the honor of performing/held positions in many Bay Area ensembles including: the Silicon Valley Philharmonic, Napa Valley Ballet, Stockton Symphony, Modesto’s Townsend Opera house, South Bay Symphony Orchestra, New Millennium Chamber Orchestra, Merced Symphony, Bay Area Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Parnassus, Awesöme Orchestra Collective, as well as many orchestras throughout Georgia and Houston. In 2014-2016 Marcus worked with the San Francisco Symphony’s youth outreach program, “Adventure in Music” with his chamber ensemble Triple Wavelength. In 2010 Marcus was a finalist in the Georgia Philharmonic's Concerto Competition. He has also performed at a wide range of events including music festivals, art openings and celebrations of all kinds.

Originally hailing from Coral Springs, Florida; Marcus received his Master of Music degree from The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and his Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance from Georgia State University, His principal teachers have included Russ de Luna, Lara Dahl, Jennifer Potochnic, and Anne Leek. He has also participated in master classes and music festivals with William Bennett, Eugene Izotov, Jonathan Fischer, Nancy Ambrose King, Mark Ostoich, Alex Klein, Elizabeth Koch, and Frank Rosenwein.

MARCUS PHILLIPS

Oboe & English Horn

MEDINA

Medina captures the excitement and intimacy of chamber music through her grandly expressive interpretations and curated programming. Her performances have been described as “dynamic, exotic and flawless” by the Examiner and her playing as “ethereal” by Sound Word Sight. Medina has even been recognized for her “extraordinary breath control” by the Classical Voice of North Carolina.

Medina’s aim is to send a message of hope, joy and wonder to her audiences. She has performed in some of New York’s major concert halls such as: Steinway Hall, Avery Fischer, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space and Merkin Hall. Medina has also had the pleasure of performing with Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and has performed with the Tactus contemporary ensemble, CIRCE new music festival, Institute Festival of Contemporary Performance, and the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice in Boston. Medina is a two-time awardee of the 2007 and 2006 Lilian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition and an unprecedented three-time winner of the Euterpe Club Music Prize. She was also awarded the 2005 Thomas J. Stone Award for Excellence in Performance.

Medina’s mission as an educator is to guide her students in discovering their musical voice, which has brought her to both coasts of the United States as a concert clinician presenting masterclasses and lessons. As adjunct professor in Nyack College Medina teaches courses in clarinet performance, sight singing, and woodwind methods.

During her training she has earned degrees from Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Medina has studied with world-class musicians and world renown pedagogues such as clarinetists Sandra Mosteller, Kelly Burke, David Krakauer, Ayako Oshima, and Charles Neidich.

Clarinet

CATHLEEN TORRES

Cathleen Torres, Horn, has performed with many orchestral, chamber, wind, and jazz ensembles, including the Baltimore Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, California Pops Orchestra, West Bay Opera, San Francisco Wind Symphony, San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, Asian American Orchestra, Golden Gate Park Band, Oxford Street Brass, and Avenue Winds. She has performed and recorded at venues such as Yoshi's and the San Jose Summer Jazz Festival. Cathleen has performed with many local theatre companies, including TheatreWorks, Broadway by the Bay, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Mountain Play, and Woodminster Summer Musicals. She has toured with Josh Groban in the Bay Area, and has performed with Echo and the Bunnymen and Video Games Live. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Music from California State University, East Bay, and a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. Her mentors include Timothy M. Smith and Mary Bisson. Cathleen teaches privately, and is on adjunct faculty at College of San Mateo.

Horn

KIKA WRIGHT

Honduran-born bassoonist Kika Wright is an energetic and versatile performer and double reed instructor, recently transplanted to New York City. Ms. Wright is a member of the Incidental Chamber Players in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-- a group dedicated to the performance of lesser-known wind chamber music. Ms. Wright also serves on the board. Before her move, she was a founding member of the music arts collective Mind on Fire, as well as an active freelance musician in the Baltimore-DC metropolitan area.

A dedicated educator, Ms. Wright served as the double-reed instructor at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC, bassoon instructor and chamber music coach at the Levine School in Washington DC, and as an adjunct professor of double reeds at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. She has recently joined a woodwind quintet dedicated to outreach in Queens borough public schools.

Ms. Wright participated in a variety of music festivals and programs, including the Eastern Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, The Banff Centre Woodwind Masterclass program, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Ms. Wright holds degrees from The Pennsylvania State University and The University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed the Artist Residency Program of Carnegie Mellon University in 2012. She also has an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. She was the recipient of the Ihnatowycz Emerging Artist Scholarship. Ms. Wright is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 802.